Local news veteran Mike Cavender has been named executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association and Foundation.

Cavender is a former director of news and public affairs at WGCL in Atlanta, as well as vice president of news at WUSA in Washington, DC and WTSP in Tampa. Most recently, he was the vice president of client solutions for Synaptic Digital, a media creation and distribution platform.

“Throughout my news career, I’ve benefited greatly from the support and guidance of the RTDNA/F,” Cavender said in a statement. “It’s a tremendous honor to lead this great organization that has for decades been so important to me and thousands of electronic journalists.”